Amit Shah stirs politcal hornet’s nest with his first visit!

Whether BJP president  Amit Shah’s recent visit to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States help boost or not the electoral prospects of his party in 2019 elections, it has definitely stirred the hornet’s nest to trigger a political storm in both the Telugu States.

Amit Shah with his three-day visit to Nalgonda district has undoubtedly ruffled the feathers of not only the ruling TRS, but also the Opposition parties in Telangana State. A war of words is now raging between the TRS and BJP leaders over Amit Shah’s assertion that the BJP-led Central Government provided financial assistance to the State to the tune of Rs One lakh crore. What is intriguing is that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, in an unexpected and never-before-outburst unleashed a tirade against Amit Shah while disputing his claim about the Centre’s assistance. What is more, even ministers and TRS leaders went full throat against the BJP and its leadership.

Interestingly  amidst all this “tu tu , mai mai” between the TRS and BJP leaders, the pink brigade has trained its guns only against the saffron leaders and conveniently avoided targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for obvious reasons. What is more, while going full throttle against Amit Shah, KCR even lauded the Prime Minister for his clean and corruption-free administration. One can only put two and two together to surmise that there is something more to it than meets the eye in this stance of KCR.

Another party that seemed to have been piqued by Amit Shah’s visit is AIMIM. The BJP president’s claim that the saffron party would demolish the MIM bastion in the Hyderabad parliamentary constituency and would unfurl its saffron flag in the 2019 elections has definitely pricked the nerves of MIM president and MP from constituency Asaduddin Owaisi.

The MIM chief went hammer and tongs against Amit Shah and challenged him to face him in the coming elections from the constituency. He declared that Amit Shah would face the same fate as Venkaiah Naidu, who contested and lost against his father in the past. Owaisi even threw a challenge against the BJP leadership that the party would not even win a single seat of the five Assembly seats it presently represents in the city.

The Congress leadership in Telangana, where the party has been completely decimated, seemed more interested in trying to fish in the troubled waters while the TRS and BJP are at loggerheads, the party’s president in Andhra Pradesh lashed out Amit Shah for desperately trying to make inroads in the State with the help of TDP. The AP Congress chief criticized the BJP leadership for failing to ensure the State getting the special category status.

However, what is intriguing is that after Amit Shah’s visit, the talk about polarization of parties for the 2019 elections has already begun. As a matter of fact, senior Congress leader and a former Union minister Sudini Jaipal Reddy even expressed his opinion of not being averse to a tie-up with TDP in Telangana State, much to the chagrin of the party leaders. Jaipal Reddy even did not rule out the possibility of a tie-up between TRS and BJP to enter the electoral battle in 2019.

Another interesting development after Amit Shah’s visit was the sudden cracks developing in the relationship between the ruling TDP in AP and the BJP. Though the BJP is an ally of TDP in AP as of now, how the relationship is going to be in future has become a talking point now. As a matter of fact, during his meeting with party leaders in AP, Amit Shah seemed to have been told clearly that the party should go it alone in the 2019 elections. This opinion seemed to have been openly aired during a public function attended by Amit Shah. The fissures in the TDP-BJP relationship seemed to have already commenced. What is more, there is even talk in political circles that the BJP might even enter into an electoral understanding with the YSR Congress Party.

Thus, all said and done, Amit Shah’s three-day stay in Telangana and a brief visit to AP, has warmed up the political atmosphere in both the Telugu States. (NSS)